Effective Book Marketing Strategies for Consistent Sales

“With a book marketing strategy, your sales will skyrocket!” you’ve heard that a dozen times.

But… Just because you wrote a new book and you’ve promised everybody (including yourself) that you’re going to promote it, it won’t get any sales.

Harsh? Maybe. But it’s true. And here at Self-Publishing School, you first have to learn the truth before taking action.

Even if your book is the next Great American Novel, it won’t be a success if it doesn’t get into the collective consciousness of the public. 

This is why you need good book marketing tactics to back it up. You’ll also need to avoid book marketing mistakes.

We actually teach a ton of pre-launch and post book launch marketing plans in our programs here at Self-Publishing School. You can check those products out right here.

Here are the book marketing strategies we cover:

1. Book marketing during Covid-19
2. Use the Book Sales Network method
3. Use a launch team for book marketing
4. Build a website to market your book
5. Grow your email list
6. Influencer outreach for book promotion
7. Apply for BookBub
8. Land interviews on podcasts
9. Reach book clubs
10. Write another book

Book Marketing for Authors During the Covid-19 Pandemic

We wanted to add this section at the top in light of everything happening with the Coronavirus sweeping the world.

With so many shut-downs and quarantines, Amazon has decided to cut down production considerably—and this includes paperback books.

For self-published authors, this is a huge problem. After all, some of you make a living from your book. So we wanted to offer you a few pieces of advice that we’re also sharing with our paying students at this time.

Here are some tips for book marketing during the Covid-19 Pandemic:

• Switch to an ebook-first marketing plan (switch marketing images to ebooks, talk about the ebooks, make ebooks top-of-mind so more buy those versus physical copies)
• Promote that your paperbacks are on other websites (Barnes and Noble, etc.) instead of sending them right to Amazon
• Have any collaborators or those who sell your book via an affiliate link with Amazon switch to a different distributor or an ebook link for the time being
• Reduce your ebook price or run a special to get the word out
• Connect the current events to your story or message (it’s a GREAT time for dystopian authors and those with work-from-home material)
• Offer a free PDF for anyone who buys a paperback (so they can start reading right away, waiting until their physical copy arrives)
• Run a special that donates a % of the profits toward families in need during this time
• Make sure that while still promoting, you’re aware of others’ struggles and hardships during this time. Be sensitive with your messaging.

This is a crazy situation for all of us and all we can hope to do is tweak our lives to fit the current times, and this includes self-published authors impacted by Amazon’s change.

Book Marketing for Self-Published Authors

Marketing for self-published authors takes planning, organization, and consistent action; it’s hard work. But the good news is that marketing is also about fostering connections and relationships, which can be rewarding to you and your fan base.

And since you’re the one who knows your book from cover to cover, your backstory, your reasons for writing it, and who your ideal reader is, it’s your duty to put a plan in place to best connect with your intended audience and share your story.

We know, we know…you’ve put a ton of effort into writing, editing, and getting your book ready for publication that the thought of adding another layer of “work” is not the most appealing idea.

But realize that if you launch your book without a marketing plan, FAR fewer people will read it.

It will hamper the success of the book you’re working on now, as well as others you plan on publishing in the future. So if you dream of becoming a New York Times bestselling author, or if you want your book to help you reach other lifestyle goals, a book marketing strategy is your essential key to success. Check out Jeff Brown’s helpful list on the best marketing services out there if you want to read more.

Build a Book Marketing Plan By Setting Book Sales Goals

If you want to know why you have to market your book, the profits will explain it.

If you want to make a living writing your books, it’s important to understand exactly what that means, and more importantly, how many books you’ll need to sell to reach that goal.

When you know how many books you need to sell, you can reverse engineer your writing goals and marketing goals to hit that number more easily.

Meaning, if you want to sell 100 books a month, then you’ll have to put forth the marketing effort to do that, and track where your sales are typically coming from.

Check out this book profit calculator in order to know how much you need to market in order to become a full-time self-published author.

How to Market a Book Using the Book Sales Network

After helping thousands of authors not only publish books, but also sell more copies, we’ve developed a formula for ensuring your marketing systems are well-suited to support your book sales goals.

Our Book Sales Network is comprised of these marketing channels:

1. Email list
2. Lead magnets
3. Podcast interviews and features
4. Your website
5. Book ads
6. Social media

We’ve learned that our authors are most successful when they can focus on 3-4 of these channels—not all of them. If you try to use all of these to market your book, you’ll spend more time marketing and less time doing what you love, writing books.

We recommend authors always have an email list, which also includes using lead magnets in order to grow your list of subscribers (which is what we do best!).

With those two as your baseline and bare minimum, choose at least one other channel, and potentially two if your goal is to become a full-time author. This could be a mix of marketing your book on social media and running book ads, OR getting author interviews on podcasts and creating a valuable blog on your website.

At the end of the day, choose channels that you like and will be most consistent in using—because book marketing only works if you’re consistent.

Having seen and been involved in so many book launches ourselves, we know what works and what doesn’t when it comes to book marketing.

We’ll walk you through a play-by-play of exactly what you need to do so that your readers can find your book and buy it.

We’ve broken this guide down into two main sections for learning book marketing:

1. Pre-Launch Book Marketing: Building Your Book Marketing Launch Team
2. Post-Launch Book Marketing: 8 Strategies for Selling More Books

Pre-Launch Book Marketing: Build Your Launch Team

The first step of preparing for your book launch, and the marketing behind it, is to build your launch team or street team, as it’s also commonly referred to.

What is a Launch Team?

The ideal launch team, also known as a “street team,” is a dedicated, hand-selected group eager to make your launch successful. If you use your team’s talent and communicate well, there’s nothing your launch team can’t accomplish!

#1 – Launch Team Size

The first step is to determine the projected size of your book marketing launch team based on the size of your audience.

Your audience is anyone interested in you, your book, and your product.

They could be five of your lifelong friends, members of your community, big organizations you’re connected to, social media followers, email subscribers, anyone who might be interested in what you’re sharing.

If you have a smaller following, we suggest you aim for a launch team of 10-50. Those with hundreds in their network can aim for 100-250 team members.

#2 – How to Find a Launch Team

If you don’t have much of a following right now, start by looking at your personal inner circle— your family, your close friends—then branch out to their connections, families, and colleagues.

You can reach out to peers from college, your volunteer work, or even your first job. You may even consider parents at your child’s school, fellow dog owners, or members of your yoga class.

Even though you may not know these people well, they are a part of your network, and you may be pleasantly surprised to discover that they’re inspired by your book and would be eager to share it.

Once you’ve completed this exercise, you should have an initial list of potential launch team members!

#3 – Recruit Quality People for Your Launch Team

Now that you’ve determined your potential recruitment pool, the second step is to initiate contact and gauge their interest level.

The most important lesson to consider about your book marketing launch team is that QUALITY trumps QUANTITY.

One top-quality, dedicated team member trumps a handful of mediocre ones.

To begin recruitment for your launch team, create a simple questionnaire process that describes your book, your expectations of the team, and questions asking:

• Why are you interested in supporting my book?
• What part of my book speaks to you?
• What specialized skills can you contribute?
• What’s your available time commitment?
• Who are influential people you can reach out to?
• Why would these influential people be interested?

To sweeten the recruitment deal, feel free to offer a free signed copy of your book or an inclusion in the “acknowledgments” section. You can easily do this through email, or through online forms like Typeform.

#4 – Record a Welcome Video

Take the time to record a warm welcome video for your new supporters! In your video, first, congratulate your team for being selected and express gratitude for their help.

Then, detail your expectations, your unique mission for writing your book, and why you want to share it with as many people as you can!

This welcome video will help you create a more personal connection with your book launch team, and show them a bit more about why you’re creating it and what message you’re trying to convey.

Be sure to send it to everyone who completes your questionnaire!

#5 – Establish a Communication Style

Here’s the secret to a successful book marketing launch team: Effective communication.

Communicate with your team regularly to keep them focused on weekly tasks, progress, and innovative ideas by doing the following:

• Strive to send one email per week preceding launch then increase it to three or more during launch week.
• Use a Facebook group to engage, share ideas, and post feedback. Set the tone by posting “Dos and Don’ts” to keep conversations focused and positive.
• Boost morale and build rapport by sharing inspiring quotes, gifts, and goofy photos to keep energy high and build vital connections.

No matter which mode of communication you’re using, remember people like to be treated well.

Always make sure your team knows how grateful you are to them and their dedication!

#6 – Book Marketing Launch Team Assignments

You can’t just build up a catalog of supporters and not use them, though. You have to give them small assignments to help you with launching and the book marketing process in general.

It might feel weird telling people to help you, but don’t worry about it!

They’re here because they want to support your project, and as long as you’re gracious and ask nicely, they’ll be happy to support your work.

Facebook Groups will be the most effective way to dole out weekly team assignments.

Here are some book marketing initiatives you can assign your team to do:

• Share snippets of content from your book across social media
• Submit reviews on Amazon
• Add their reviews to Goodreads
• Share a book review on their YouTube channel
• Record a testimonial for your book
• Buy extra copies to give to their friends
• Give you more marketing ideas, such as a book trailer to help build up excitement in your followers!

#7 – Utilize Talents

Your team members will have a different variety of skills and talents, and it’s your job to effectively manage your team by assigning work based on their strengths.

To identify your team’s talents, write a post during the introductory week and say the following:

“If you have any special talents or connections you’d like to lend towards my book launch, please comment on this post and let me know. I’m looking for ways to help spread my book’s message to a wider audience.”

#8 – Have Fun and Say “Thank You!”

Your launch team will commit weeks of their time, energy, and talent, so make sure you thank each and every person for their contribution!

Ensure that each person on your team feels valued and appreciated for their efforts.

And most importantly, let them know how to get your book for free (or at least at a deep discount)!

Post-Launch Book Marketing: 8 Strategies for Selling More Books

All marketing—no matter which market or industry—is fundamentally about people and making connections.

Part of pitching your book will be figuring out how your book relates to your readers and how they will benefit from it.

Now that your book is out in the wild, you want to get as many people to it as possible. Here are the eight best strategies for doing just that.

#1 – Build Your Book Website

Can you imagine if you came home one day and your house was…missing?

Well, that is what an author’s life can be like without a website to post fresh content.

You’ll always be missing a home where you can park your books. Many authors think they don’t need a website because they can promote their books through social media or the author platform on Amazon.

Sorry, not exactly.

There is a huge difference. Having an author website is the difference between renting or buying a piece of property. When you rent, you are living in someone else’s space.

It doesn’t belong to you and they can cancel your lease at any time. Maintaining your own website on a hosted server with your domain name is the same as having that piece of real estate.

You can customize your site your way, publish your own content, and you are always in complete control of how it looks and what gets published.

When it comes to book marketing with your own website, the sky’s the limit. You can:

• Publish your book’s landing page on your site.
• Post blogs about your upcoming book
• Create a countdown timer for the book’s release date.
• Set up an affiliate link to your Amazon page so you get commissions on book sales Include sample chapters from your book
• Link to video clips about the book on your website
• Communicate directly with your email subscribers about new releases or your current blog post

And you can also set up a Google Alert so you can be notified about where your name and your book show up online.

If someone gives you good feedback or a stellar review, reach out and thank them and ask them to link back to your book’s website.

ACTION STEP: If your book doesn’t already have a website, get one started! To set up your website and personal blog on a paid server, you can try Bluehost or Godaddy and use WordPress for building your site.

#2 – Build Your Email List

There is a saying going around that says: “the money is in the list.” Why? It’s simple. A list of followers who are in love with your writing will be the first to line up when you have a new product to sell.

These people are essentially your customers.

Your email list is yours. It doesn’t belong to Amazon or social media. You control what you want to say, how you say it, and when. Imagine if every time you had a new book ready to launch, hundreds or thousands of people were waiting for it so they could get it first.

If you are serious about your book marketing your current project and all future ones as well, building your list should be a top priority. Nothing else comes close.

Although building a list takes time, in the long run it is the easiest way to market.

These are the true fans that will get the word out and be the first to leave verified reviews after buying your new release at the special price of 0.99. But that is just the beginning.

You can continue to build your list by including a reader magnet at the front and back of your book. Get people hooked on your brand and then keep them there by writing your next book, and then, including them in your next launch.

As your book reaches more people, and you get more signups, your marketing capacity grows…exponentially.

ACTION STEP: If you haven’t started on your list building, go to an email management system such as Mailchimp or AWeber and sign up for an account. Then get building and start to funnel your fans into your books today.

#3 – Reach Out to Influencers

When it comes to book promoting, nothing can have a bigger impact on your book than influencers through book endorsements.

Even Gary Vaynerchuk, one of the most influential and knowledgable people in the marketing game, thinks so.

What is an influencer?

Influencers can be podcasters, bloggers, or authors with strong email lists. It’s someone with an established platform that can get you noticed if they notice you.

An influencer is someone who has a lot of promotional weight and can spread the word about your book to thousands of people with just a brief mention to their email list, on their blog, or by sharing on social media, for example.

Influencers have a long reach. What you can do is identify the influencers in your niche and reach out to them. Tell them who you are and ask if they can help to promote your latest book.

A lot of the time, they’ll want a free copy to read and review. You can also offer to support their future endeavors as a way of giving back.

Influencers can have a major impact on your exposure as an author, so try to set up interviews in your hometown or reach out to someone online and offer to do an interview so you can deliver value to their target audience.

Guest post blogging on an influencer’s blog or website is another way to market your book.

For example, if you wrote a book on recipes for Italian food, you could try connecting with people in the Italian cooking niche.

They may have a blog, podcast, or a webinar on which you want to appear.

And if you want to make sure you sound professional during the interview, you can check out some of the best podcast microphones to use.

ACTION STEP: Identify at least one influencer in your market and reach out to that person. Tell them who you are and what you do. Get on their podcast or get interviewed. Exposure to fans in your niche will have a big influence on book sales.

#4 – Leverage Two Social Media Platforms

Social media is a powerful way to promote your book to potential readers. We can engage with thousands of people just by hitting a few buttons.

But with social media sites, the big scare is the amount of time we can get sucked into trying to do everything. If you try to connect with everyone, you’ll match up with nobody.

When promoting and marketing your book, you can’t be everywhere doing all things at once.

That is why we recommend you choose two social media sites to work with and post your content regularly on these two sites.

For example, you can have a YouTube channel and post weekly videos covering a wide range of topics centering around your book. After a few months, you could build up a library of content that will bring in the right audience, engage with new subscribers, and even create a course out of your videos.

Here’s an example of Youtube content from a writer currently working on her first fiction novel. She created a Youtube channel to engage fellow writers, who are also readers:

By creating a Youtube channel and giving advice about writing, she’s appealing to writers while also advertising that she is also a writer and has a book in progress.

Switching gears to Facebook, you can promote your book or blog using Facebook ads that drive new readers to your Facebook page or your book’s website.

You could also post popular quotes or snippets of material from your upcoming book. With Twitter, you can post multiple times a day with brief quotes or messages under 280 characters. Twitter has proven to be a powerful platform for authors when it comes time to promote and market a book.

And if your book is more business-focused, you may find that LinkedIn works best for you, since it allows you to connect with new readers on a more professional platform.

We recommend choosing two social media platforms and focusing on consistent engagement. This will keep your book’s appearance fresh and invite new people in to check out your work.

Here’s more help on marketing a book on specific platforms:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Pinterest

If you’re not sure how to make certain images or graphics to promote your book, we have a tutorial in the video below to show you how to make them quickly and cheaply, but with quality:

#5 – Using Specific Hashtags to Grow on Social Media

In the writing community, there are a number of very popular hashtags authors and writers use to connect with each other.

Why make connections with other authors? Because almost every other is also a reader!

Here are some of the top hashtags you can use on each platform:

Twitter

• #amwriting (as in, “I am writing”)
• #writerslife
• #fantasywriter, #scifiwriter, #contemporarywriter, etc.
• #writerprobs, #writerproblems\

Instagram

• #amwriting (as in, “I am writing”)
• #writerslife
• #fantasywriter, #scifiwriter, #contemporarywriter, etc.
• #writerprobs, #writerproblems
• #writersofig, #writersofinstagram, #writersofinsta

Facebook

• #amwriting (as in, “I am writing”)
• #writerslife
• #fantasywriter, #scifiwriter, #contemporarywriter, etc.
• #writerprobs, #writerproblems

#6 – Get on Bookbub

Bookbub is the cream of the crop when it comes to promoting and marketing your book. In fact, you should submit your book for promotion as either free or for 99 cents right after your book launch.

Bookbub has a massive following and can get your book delivered to thousands of readers. It really is the “Big One” when it comes to book marketing.

The cost isn’t cheap and can run you anywhere from $200 to $2,000 for a promo, depending on the genre, category, and the price of your book.

But is it worth it? Yes. Definitely.

For example, if you are running a promo for 99 cents in general nonfiction, you could potentially sell, on average, 2,000 copies of your book. Not only will you make a profit, but this could bring in hundreds of subscribers and leads to your email list.

From there you can upsell readers on your other books or even a course if you have one.

ACTION STEP: Go here for Bookbub submission requirements. You can also check out the pricing here and submit your book here.

#7 – Interviews and Podcasts

A local radio or podcast interview can introduce you to new readers. While this may sound intimidating, you can pull this off like a pro with a little preparation.

Look to local colleges, podcast hosts, or local radio stations for interview opportunities

(Pro Tip: Hosts love to interview up-and-coming authors, so you may be surprised at the many offers that come your way when you reach out).

Reach out, let them know a little bit about your book and why it might be interesting to their audience and include a free sample of it so they can see if you’d be a good fit.

If you have a press release describing what your book is about, feel free to include that as well to give them more context.

Then be sure that when you go on, you present a great story about your book and get their listeners excited to read it!

#8 – Book Clubs

Local book clubs are another goldmine of new readers; you already know they like books! Find and connect with these groups.

You can offer to attend a meet-and-greet and hand out copies of your free signed book. You can also get your book listed in Facebook Groups and other groups dedicated to readers.

There are also paid lists, such as Buck Books, that can reach tens to hundreds of thousands of readers. Book Launch also teaches what lists are out there, and which ones are the best to use.

ACTION STEP: Are there any book clubs you could join? Look on Facebook for groups that would be a good fit for your book.

#9 – Write Another Book

Publishing another book is great for brand building. In fact, it’s much harder to market just one book unless it is a ground-breaking phenomenal masterpiece.

Your book may be great, but you can compound that greatness by writing more books, preferably in a series.

You can even consider releasing and marketing a box set of your novels. With every new book you put out there, you increase the chances of your work getting recognized by influencers and people online who are hanging out in all the places you can target for promotion and sharing.